Off-duty Officer Shoots Escaped Dog

JAMES CITY — The animal menaced a group of children, then threatened the officer.

An off-duty James City County police officer shot and killed a dog terrorizing his Skiffes Creek Terrace neighborhood Thursday evening, a police spokesman said.

The officer was walking his own dog about 6 p.m. when he heard children screaming and saw them jumping onto a utility box, while two dogs circled below, said Maj. Stan Stout.

The officer put his dog inside his house and got his badge, a police radio and a gun, Stout said. He declined to name the officer because that would also reveal where the officer lives.

The five children -- ages 7 through 12 -- told the officer that the dogs were being very aggressive, baring their teeth and chasing them.

The dogs took off after the officer arrived. While he called dispatchers to request assistance from Animal Control, the dogs attacked a beagle in a yard nearby, Stout said.

The beagle's owner was able to bring it inside, and the dogs fled again with the officer following and trying to keep them in sight, Stout said.

As the dogs approached the woodline, one turned around and started growling, barking and coming toward the officer, Stout said. He said the officer told the dog to get back, then shot it once when it kept coming.

The second dog kept running and returned to Whispering Pines trailer park, Stout said.

The dogs, both mixed breeds, had escaped by digging under the fence that penned them in, said Animal Control Supervisor Shirley Anderson.

Stout said it has not been determined whether charges will be brought against the owners. *